1969

1969 from Hemmings Classic Car

Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet refines their sporty F-body Camaro coupe and convertible for 1969; while the roof, glass, hood and trunklid carry over, the cars gain attitude with flattened wheel arches and edgy character lines, faux fender vents and modified grilles and headlamps. Available with manual or automatic transmissions and engines ranging from a 140hp, 230-cu.in. straight-six up to a 375hp, 390-cu.in. V-8, the $2,638 Camaro can be tailored for any taste.

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Ford Maverick
VW owns the economy car market in 1969, and Ford is out to get a piece with their new $1,995 Maverick. This handsome two-door sedan is powered by a 100hp, 170-cu.in. straight-six, adequate motivation for a 2,427-pound car. Standard features include tartan plaid cloth and vinyl interior trim, interior courtesy lamps, flip-out quarter windows and 6.00 x 13 tires. A Cruise-O-Matic transmission ($175) and an AM radio ($61) are optional.
Continental Mark III
Lincoln hadn't built a high-end personal luxury coupe since production of the 1956-57 Continental Mark II ceased. They base the $6,741 Continental Mark III on the contemporary Thunderbird's platform; it has a long hood/short deck look with distinct wheel arches, a trunklid spare tire hump and a neoclassical vertical bar grille flanked by hidden headlamps. Power comes from a 460-cu.in. V-8, and standard features are decadent.
Imperial (WPC newsletter)
Sleek new styling graces Chrysler's Imperial Crown and Imperial LeBaron for 1969. The $6,233 Crown, available in four-door post- and hardtop sedan and hardtop coupe forms, comes with hidden headlamps, power brakes, steering and windows and a 350hp, 440-cu.in. V-8 engine. The popular upscale $6,539 LeBaron, which is available as a hardtop sedan or coupe, adds a vinyl-covered roof, leather/cloth seats and a formal rear window.
Dollars & Cents
Median cost of a new home - $25,600
Average yearly salary - $7,850
Phonograph/stereo - $190
Blender - $13.50
Minimum wage - $1.60/hour
Pork chops - $1.05/pound
Schlitz beer - $.99/6-pack
Coffee - $.78/pound
Gasoline - $.47/gallon
Milk - $.32/quart
Apples - $.25/pound
First-class stamp - $.06
Year at a GlanceJanuary
o Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th PresidentFebruary
o The largest commercial plane built, the Boeing 747, makes its first flightMarch
o Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President, dies at age 78April
o Haskell Karp receives the world's first artificial heart implantMay
o Nuclear submarine USS Guitarro sinks at its dock in San Francisco Naval ShipyardJune
o Actress and singer Judy Garland dies at age 47July
o Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin are the first men on the moonAugust
o The Woodstock Music and Art Festival takes place in Bethel, New YorkSeptember
o President Nixon orders the resumption of North Vietnamese bombingOctober
o On the Road author Jack Kerouac dies at age 47November
o 250,000 anti-war protesters march on the Capitol in WashingtonDecember
o Charles Manson and four others arrested for Tate-LaBianca murders

This article originally appeared in the March, 2005 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.